The Transfer Tavern

Transfer Flashbacks: Bob Bradley

Transfer flashback:

Francesco Guidolin was in the charge of Swansea City at the beginning of the 2016/17 campaign but he struggled to lead his side to any positive results and he was eventually sacked on his birthday after losing 5 of the Swans’ 7 opening fixtures.

That 3 of those fixtures were against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City did nothing to save him from the exit door, and Swansea swiftly announced that Bob Bradley was the man to replace Guidolin at the Liberty Stadium.

But Guidolin’s popularity combined with the timing of the decision caused widespread discontent amongst the Swansea supporters and it’s fair to say they were absolutely fuming with the decision.

Evidently, the Swansea supporters were absolutely outraged by Guidolin’s dismissal and there was almost no sign of optimism for the future following Bradley’s appointment.

The tone was set from the minute Bradley walked through the door at Swansea and he never managed to establish a positive relationship with the supporters.

Considering how unpopular his appointment was, it was hardly surprising that he struggled to galvanise the club as Swansea slumped to 7 league defeats from 11 fixtures under his leadership, conceding a whopping 29 goals in the process.

The former manager of the USA national side was then sacked after a demoralising 4-1 defeat at home to West Ham United on boxing day before Paul Clement eventually steadied the sinking ship and steered Swansea towards safety with a hat-trick of victories to end the season.

Swansea’s decision to appoint Bradley ultimately proved to be a disastrous one which saw the club crumble both on and off the field of play, so there’s no doubt the supporters were absolutely right to slate the board on Twitter following the decision.